DIY

Personalize Your Natives

Native Shoes is taking everyone by storm – even those who shy away from their foamy silhouette can agree that they are a stylish solution to some of summer’s troubling wardrobe predicaments. The practicality of Native is that they are lightweight, waterproof, and airy while still having a classic street style. Perfect for city turned beachy outdoor endeavors. Imagine how key they are at music festivals! Also perfect for anyone who has worked as a lifeguard or in a restaurant.

For those of you ladies who want to stand out of the crowd, I saw a picture of someone at Miami’s WMC who personalized their Pigeon Gray Jefferson Sneakers by lacing them with hot pink laces (Karmaloop has plenty from Mr. Lacy and Kazbah brand, Fully Laced) and it looked awesome! That opened my eyes to ways that you could actually style your Natives, not just wear them. The color combos are endless, what would you choose?

DIY: fringed scarf

(Click for inspiration and instructions...)

DIY: Slashes and Studs

Last week, I rescued a pair of crappy old jeans with some cone studs and a seamripper. I love all of the studded, slashed jeans by Tripp NYC so that’s the look I was going for:

1. SLASH- To slash your jeans, use a pair of scissors to cut horizontally. You can make a small cut and then rip the rest of the way though. Then take your seam ripper and remove all the blue threads running vertically through the denim. Trim the blue out of the way as you go. I also did this to the bottom of the cutoffs.
2. STUD- Denim is soft, so the cone studs should go right through. Close the prongs with a table top, screwdriver, pliers– whatever you have around! Close ups are below.

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Impromptu Photoshoot

With sunny weather comes bright ideas. Last weekend was beautiful, and it inspired us to get creative and hold an impromptu photoshoot. With a few accessories and inventive props (IE: Jeni, pay your rent on time!) we threw together a totally awesome yet very simple photoshoot. All you need are a couple of good friends and your camera. It’s always fun to let loose and see what you come up with! Here is the outcome of our shoot…

Jeni (The Garbo Lace Skirt by BB Dakota)

Jeni & Me (Shirt by Cheap Monday, Necklace by Joyrich)

Me (left), Lily (Right)

DIY: Studded Bag

Lately, I was inspired by this studded denim vest by MadeMe to do a little studding of my own! I picked up this pretty sick leather backpack (WHY would you throw something like that away??) at a used clothing store for a dollar, and summoned all my crafty skills to add a little rocker flare in the form of silver studs. It’s super easy to do, here’s how!

Materials: Leather bag (or pants, or jacket, or whatever), triangle studs (you can find pretty inexpensive ones online), hammer, nails, piece of wood (at least one inch thick), chalk pencil, ruler

Steps:

1. Because leather is thick (duh, it’s cow skin) you have to put holes where you’d like your studs to go.  To do this, measure the space between the tabs on the studs.  Use this measurement to help you decide where and how to place your studs.

2. Mark where the tabs on the studs will go directly on the leather with the chalk  pencil (this will come off).

3. Use the hammer and nail to create a small hole where you have marked with the pencil. MAKE SURE that during this step, you place a piece of wood between you and the floor (or table, or your leg).  If you don’t, you WILL end up with holes in your floor (or table, or your leg). Trust me, I learned this one the hard way. Place stud securely in the holes you made in the leather.

4. Hammer the tabs flat to make sure stud is secure.

5. Repeat, repeat, repeat as many times as you like, depending on how many studs you want!

It’s easy to give tired clothes and accessories some edge by adding studs. Go wild! 

Dim Mak Fall ’09 at Karmaloop!

Dim Mak’s Fall 2009 collection has landed at Karmaloop, and there’s plenty to be pumped about!  The company gleaned some of its inspiration from children’s coloring books to create the Paint by Numbers Tee, pictured above. The Tee was designed in collaboration with Bloody Beetroots designer Turbokrapten (who also helped to design the Nature V-Neck) and comes with three fabric paint pens, giving everyone the chance to channel their inner Picasso. All kids love to color (including me) and are likely to find this DIY tee irresistible! Well played Dim Mak…

As if the endless artistic possibilities weren’t exciting enough, when you purchase any Dim Mak product you receive a FREE Dim Mak mix tape. The mix was created by KTV’s own DJ Red Foxx! Don’t sleep, cuz there’s a limited supply!